Gaming Guru

Hellmuth entrance dominates Day 1C

LAS VEGAS -- When it comes to World Series of Poker Main Event entrances, there's Phil Hellmuth, and then there's everybody else.

The "Poker Brat" continued his tradition of arriving on Day One loudly and late by walking in dressed up as an MMA fighter about 10 minutes before the first break.

Phil Hellmuth's entrance on Wednesday was chaotic, to say the least. (photo by Vin Narayanan)

Hellmuth has made headlines for years for his entrances into the Main Event. In 2007 he came in dressed as a race car driver (and crashed a car to boot). In 2008 he dressed as General Patton, and last year he was Julius Caesar.

Hellmuth, wearing a boxing robe patched up with a number of UB.com logos, was flanked by a few beefed-up fighters and trailed by 11 skimpily-clad women, each holding a "title belt" that represented one of Hellmuth's 11 WSOP bracelets.

The 1989 Main Event champion was introduced by UFC announcer Bruce Buffer, who was wearing a Full Tilt patch on his suit. Unfortunately, the power went out before Buffer was done introducing Hellmuth, so his booming voice had to suffice.

When the power was restored, Hellmuth began his entrance by walking down a red carpet with Jay Z's "On to the Next One" blasting through the speakers. He stopped to hug his parents and remarked to his father that he "hit some putts yesterday." He then walked with his parents to the entrance of the Rio.

The mob scene following Hellmuth was incredible. Dozens of fans and media members snapped pictures while Hellmuth made the roughly 100-yard trek to the Amazon Room.

Players from other tables stood up and turned to see Hellmuth enter, and the crowd around the rail of the secondary featured TV table was five deep when he took his seat.

Thankfully for all, Hellmuth wore a shirt underneath his robe. He also sported MMA gloves. He wore both for awhile in front of the ESPN cameras but later took them off.

He busted after the dinner break, and he didn't exit quietly. Surprisingly, it wasn't his fault. An official announced to the entire field over the PA system that he had been eliminated. The Amazon Room then erupted in cheers.

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Tom Dwan (center) drew a crowd on Day 1C. (photo by Vin Narayanan)

Like yesterday, a lot of attention on Day 1C was paid to a young online player who has never won a World Series of Poker bracelet.

Yesterday, it was Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier who drew a multitude of fans. Today, it was Tom "durrrr" Dwan.

Dwan's table, like Grospellier's yesterday, was situated near two rails. Dwan's table, however, was in the Pavilion, which is a much more open playing area.

Therefore, at the beginning of the day, there were close to 30 people along the rails watching him play. Naturally, many of them brought their cameras (no flash photography allowed). And the crowds only grew bigger.

Dwan was visibly tired before the dinner break, closing his eyes and repeatedly yawning. With TV cameras and about 45 people watching on the rails, he called an all-in on a flop filled with spades. He turned over a 2s-3s, only to see his opponent turn over As-Ks for the nuts. Dwan had him covered, but lost around 15,000 in chips.

Dwan was moved to the Amazon Room following the dinner break, and brought the fans and TV cameras along with him. He busted out right before the end of the day when his jacks and 10s could not beat a rivered straight.

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PokerStars pro Juan Maceiras couldn't have asked for a better table, at least during the first level.

Similar to Day 1B, there were a number of TVs around both the Amazon Room and the Pavilion showing the Spain/Germany World Cup semifinal.

Maceiras, a Spaniard, was seated right in front of one of these TVs. He wore the colors of his native land and kept his eyes focused on the soccer game during pots he wasn't involved in.

Juan Maceiras had one eye on the table and another on the World Cup. (photo by Vin Narayanan)

The entire Amazon Room erupted when Spain's Carles Puyol headed in the game's only goal in the 73rd minute. Cheers of "Vamos!" were heard throughout the playing area.

"Well, that woke the room up," remarked an American player.

Maceiras was all smiles when Spain's victory became official, but he later busted before the dinner break.

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One of the reasons Daniel Negreanu is such a popular player is his persona at the table. He's never afraid to laugh and yuck it up, even when he isn't familiar with his other competitors.

Such was the case late in Day 1C. Casino City caught up to this hand after it was done but apparently someone had checked the nut straight flush. The player did not realize he hit the second strongest hand in poker.

Negreanu told the player that "we've all" made that mistake before, and when the player said he saw Phil Ivey do it, Negreanu nodded his head.

"Yeah, and Phil Ivey's a good player," he said.

Negreanu then proceeded to do some leg raises while chatting with players on different tables. He also walked to the rail to pose for a picture with a fan who was too afraid to go up to him.

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You didn't have to travel far to run into a former Main Event champion on Day 1C, because they seemed to be everywhere.

The defending champion, Joe Cada, was at the main featured TV table, while Hellmuth was on the secondary TV table.

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